Today in History (1862) - The U.S. government forbids all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation. On the same day in 1865, the Confederate Congress voted to enlist 300,000 black troops, granting them freedom with the consent of their owners. Lee surrendered a few weeks later.

August 17, 2005

Day Four: Defending the Bar

by Announcement

After a six-day hiatus, the Bar Exam symposium is back with a couple of provocative posts. Venkat Balasubramani challenges the bar haters to come up with a better way to test basic competence, and the Sardonic Lawyer derides law school accreditation while suggesting improvements to the exam's current format.

We welcome comments and e-mails, so please voice your approval or disagreement with these and other symposium posts.